Comic artists in Portrait
A lot more than “Pow! Zap! Boing!”

From the North Pole to the slaughterhouses of Chicago: Kristina Gehrmann has a penchant for all things historical, which she combines with her love of manga.

In “Wave and Smile”, Arne Jysch reconstructs the day-to-day life of a German army soldier in Afghanistan. “Der nasse Fisch” (i.e. The Wet Fish) is an adaptation of Volker Kutscher’s best-selling novel of the same name and focuses particular attention on the details of 1920s Berlin.

Jens Harder only began drawing comics as an adult. This influences his work: rather than using conventional narrative structures, he uses an associative narrative style to expand the concept of the medium – most noticeably in his multi-volume history of the universe.

In her “Schattenspringer” comics, Daniela Schreiter portrays how she and other people with Asperger syndrome cope with their condition, which makes them feel as if they have “landed on the wrong planet”. Her art helps her come to terms with serious real-life experiences.

Anna Haifisch publishes comics in New York and co-founded a comic festival in Leipzig: this is how the illustrator combines her fascination with US culture, local engagement and her penchant for the independent.